Monday, November 24, 2014

November 24, 2014

Dear Family,

Another good week has come and gone. Although this week was a little harder than most nonetheless it was still a good week. To be frank the amount of teaching we did this week was pretty minimal and we did what we could to find and teach and we worked hard so thats what matters. Although we did have a great lesson with our investigator named Noah. Noah has done a ton a study on theology and actually referred himself to us and has come to the conclusion thats its either us and the catholics that are right. So we had a great lesson with him and really stressed the apostasy and it seemed to click with him so that was good! He had a lot of questions a couple of them referring to baptism so we got to talk to him about that as well. Noah took us on a walk on a trail(he lives out in the middle of nowhere basically in the mountains) which led to some water falls which was gorgeous. We ended up having our lesson there which was pretty sweet. Although our teaching was minimal this week we still had 3 investigators come to church which was pretty sweet. All of them but one we were unable to meet with but they still came so that was pretty sweet.

We have a new program which the church has spent a lot of money to establish its called just serve and its give missionaries or even regular people if they want a chance to get involved in the community and to serve the people in really any capacity. So we went and volunteered at a old folks retirement home and helped set up for this huge thanksgiving dinner for the residents. I felt like I was working my catering job again so it was pretty cool. All the residents and all the employees and other volunteers were asking us lots of questions about us because we were able to do it in our proselyting clothes. So that was a cool opportunity to get our name out there.

We had zone conference this week as well so that was really cool. It's always fun to see previous companions and people you've served around. And also to be spiritually uplifted.

We have lots of plans for thanksgiving. We've had numerous members invite us over to there place so don't worry we'll be well taken care of! Love you guys! Hope you have a great thanksgiving!

Elder Rosenbaum


November 17, 2014

Dear Family,

Its been quite a week for me. We'll start from the beginning. Tuesday was the day I traveled to my new area. Due to it being super far away, and many other delays to say the least it was a long day of traveling but I made it here just before 9 o'clock that night.  My main area is the Auburn city  which is about 30 miles from Sacramento but I also cover two smaller towns called New Castle and also Forest Hill. If you have a chance to goggle them, I would encourage you do it, it's absolutely beautiful up here. My last two areas have been a lot of the main city and this area is completely the opposite, so its cool to have some change and experience something new. Also after 8 straight transfers(one year) on a bike I'm finally back in a car. We actually have a Nissan truck so that's pretty cool. My new companions name is Elder Vielstich and he's from New Jersey so that's pretty cool as well. We also live with members here and I'm pretty sure their house is well worth over a million dollars its huge. We live in what they call 'the barn' but its just a giant garage on the side of their house which is super nice. I feel like I've adjusted well and I'm really gonna like it here.

We saw a ton of miracles this week. Due to a lot of what we cover is upper class people, I understand the work in this area has generally been a little slow. They seem to only get like 3 or 4 lessons a week if they work hard. Which I'm definitely not used to so hopefully we can pick things up.  But we were able to get 9 lessons this week and that's without being here on Tuesday. They were literally all miracles. We had some super spiritual lessons. On Sunday we went over to this Lady's house her name is Michelle and she was a referral from a member. I guess the missionaries have tried numerous times  and she had never been there so  we were just gonna try one more time, then just drop it. But we went by and she invited us in and was super friendly and just ate up the first lesson. It was super spiritual. She soft committed to be baptized and was super excited to read The Book of Mormon. I guess her daughter who isn't a member  has been anxiously engaged recently reading the BOM as well so hopefully we can start teaching her as well.

We also have this this investigator named David who we were able to teach twice this week with his grandmother who joined the church a couple of years ago. It was super cool. He was super open with us and is progressing really well. We invited him to be baptized and tried to set a date with him but he said no and expressed all his concerns to us which we were able to help address them which was super awesome. He said he would pray about being baptized and ask a specific question so he can receive a specific answer. So we had some good things happen this week.

Love you guys I hope you all are doing well!

-Elder Rosenbaum

Saturday, November 15, 2014

November 10, 2014

Dear Family,

Well first off we received our transfer calls yesterday night. After 4 transfers(6 months) of serving in Redding, I am now being transferred to the Auburn 3rd ward and I will also be covering the Forest Hill Branch which I understand is basically out in the middle of nowhere. I'm excited for my new assignment and I know that this is where I'm suppose to go. Its weird to think that this may possibly be my last area that is if I stay there for 5 transfers. My new companion has only been out 3 months so I'm excited for the opportunity to serve with him.

As far as this week goes there wasn't anything too crazy that happened. I had the chance to say goodbye to a lot of people which was super sad. Redding really did feel like home while I was here.

Kyra will be getting baptized this Saturday!! We met with her a lot this week and getting her as prepared as she could before it. I'm kind of sad, I probably won't be able to go since my new area is so far away.

I'm short of time today, but I'll give more info about my new area next week and whats going on! Love you guys!

-Elder Rosenbaum

Saturday, November 8, 2014

November 3, 2014

Dear Family,

A lot of good things have happened since last week! We're now in week
6 of the transfer meaning a week from yesterday we receive transfer
calls again. I'm 95 percent sure I'm going to be getting transferred.
When I'm on the chopping block I always hate the anticipation of not
knowing where I'll be going. But I know I'll go where ever the Lords
needs me though. I know I've said this about all my areas but I really
love this area and its gonna be really sad to leave it. Its become
home here and its always hard to leave after you feel like you have
gotten to know everyone so well.

So on Tuesday this past week we had a zone blitz which was super cool.
Meaning every single missionary in our zone spent an entire day in
just one ward. So we all went to Shasta Lake city and were able to
find a ton of work for the Elders who cover the area. I guess this is
something as a mission we're going to do once a transfer to just
change things up and help out an area if its super dead. It was pretty
fun though we all had a good time.

We have a couple other of highlights from the week. We have an
investigator named Elizabeth who's a young mother and we had a super
spiritual lesson with her this week. We taught the Restoration and the
spirit was just super strong. She soft committed to be baptized. She
met with missionaries in Ohio so when we ran into her it was really a
cool miracle. She says her husband will most likely join her in the
discussions in the near future. We have a lot of hope for this couple.

Kyra is still completely on board and still has full support from her
parents. We taught her a couple of times this week! The plan is still
to have her baptism on November 15th!

With our ward mission leader we planned a volleyball night for members
to invite less actives and non members too. It was a great success and
we had a lot of people come and it was a great way to introduce the
gospel to them.

Well thats about all for this week. And last but not least Happy
Birthday today Dad! I hope you have a great day. Thanks for your love
and support!

Until next week!

Elder Rosenbaum